I do believe that keeping one's spirits and hope up for the fight to restore democracy in this country is a serious business that cannot be allowed to languish (witness my username). I also believe that there are some political issues -- witness SpongeBobgate -- that are particularly suited to and deserving of ridicule. Keith Olbermann and the newspaper reports on topics like this may be funny, but they're also deadly serious. Especially in his Jan 29 blog on the subject (
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240), his outrage is clear in every line and synergizes with his snarky humor to produce a devastating counterattack.
I've included this Mark Twain quote in several of my posts recently - it seems to be relevant in multiple contexts:
Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense. Gogi - don't be put off by the long threads of KOEB. Come on, join us! You'll be welcomed and will contribute to our famous ambiance. That goes for whichever gender you are, we have some brave & perceptive men that usually join us as well. (By the way, I don't have cable and have a very slow, cranky dialup connection, but that doesn't keep me away.)
UL - thanks again for your kind welcome to the KOEB. It's lifted OUR spirits, I can tell you. I hope we can spread some cheer even if we aren't always strictly relevant to the 2004 Elections Forum. IMO, exposing the fraud/suppression and cleansing the corrupted election process is a deadly serious fight that needs all the good spirits it can get, even if they come with an occasional excess of those floaty things.